


Christmas Stockings

by ThatRavenclawBitch



Series: 25 Days of Ficlets [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 25 Days of Ficlets, F/M, Holidays, holiday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 19:59:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16817440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatRavenclawBitch/pseuds/ThatRavenclawBitch
Summary: Set in my "The Pages In Between" universe so *spoilers* for that story. This takes place the Christmas after they get together in the as yet unpublished final chapter. Just a bit of lingerie related fluff.





	Christmas Stockings

_Dinner at my place tonight. 6:30._

_Bring stockings. :)_

Belle looked down at her phone, reading the text for the third time, unable to believe what it said. But a third read through didn’t change the text. It definitely said what she thought it did.

She wasn’t sure what was more surprising, the request or the emoji usage. She was definitely rubbing off on her new boyfriend. Belle bit her lip, a smile blooming across her face. Gold was getting more forthright with asking for what he wanted.

Their first time together had been amazing, but he’d been a little unsure of himself. After almost two months of dating, it seemed his confidence had grown exponentially to the point where he was requesting specific articles of lingerie. Belle had to pat herself on the back for that. She couldn’t help but feel she’d been instrumental in this change.

Belle packed up her things, deciding to close the library half an hour early and head home to pore over her lingerie drawer and find the exact pair that would drive Gold the most wild. She could do him one better than just bringing her stockings. She would wear them, and little else, under her coat, prepared to give Gold a treat when he opened the door.

She was almost regretting her decision as she walked to Gold’s that night. It was December, almost Christmas, and the air was bitingly cold, icy wind whipping her hair back from her face and cutting through her thick coat. Her high heels slipped a little on a patch of ice and she just only just managed to prevent herself from falling flat on her face as she walked up the long drive to Gold’s big Victorian mansion.

She was wearing nothing beneath her demure wool coat but a black lace bustier and matching panties, the requested stockings held up by red garters. It was a new set, one Gold hadn’t seen before and she couldn’t wait for the look on his face when he finally did. She loved trotting out her lingerie for someone who seemed to really appreciate it. The gold teddy that started their relationship was, obviously, still a favorite. But Belle had splurged a little, ordering a few new pieces from Arabian Nights for the two of them to enjoy.

She loosened the belt on her coat as she stepped up the front door, preparing to give Gold a peek as soon as he opened the door and then rang the doorbell.

There was the sound of running footsteps and Belle had just enough presence of mind to keep her coat buttoned, realizing her boyfriend wouldn’t be running down the hall to her when he walked with a cane. A second later the door swung open revealing to Belle’s infinite horror not Mr. Gold, but his thirteen-year-old son.

“Oh hi, Belle,” Neal said, giving her a wide smile. It had taken the boy a couple of weeks to get over his embarrassment of being in the same room with Belle, but he’d finally warmed to her.

“Neal!” she squealed, clutching her coat around herself no matter that it was still buttoned up to her chin and Neal was none the wiser about what it concealed. She was all too aware of how little she was wearing underneath it.

“You can come in,” Neal said, stepping back out of the doorway to let her pass. Belle was faced with a choice then. She could leg it, sprint off into the night leaving a bewildered Neal to explain to his father what happened and risk a serious blow to the confidence she’d been instilling in Gold for the past few weeks. Or she could stand her ground and admit to Gold that she’d apparently worn nothing but lingerie to have dinner with his child.

Neal cocked his head, looking at her strangely, and she realized she’d been standing silently on the porch for far too long.

“Of course!” she said belatedly, stepping in to the foyer.

“Belle!” came Gold’s voice from the hallway to the kitchen, his soft brogue caressing her name and turning her insides to warm honey. “You’re here, wonderful!”

He looked so happy to see her, that slightly bewildered smile crossing his face like he couldn’t quite believe she’d showed up even when they’d been having fairly animalistic sex with each other for the past two months. She couldn’t risk this.

“May I take your coat?” he asked, stepping forward with his arm outstretched.

“No!” Belle exclaimed, wrapping her arms around herself. She was met with two identical sets of bewildered brown eyes and she shrugged. “I’m cold.”

She was apparently going with a third option of just keeping her coat on all night no matter the strange looks she would garner.

“Alright,” Gold said, still eyeing her. “Well, did you bring the stockings?”

Belle’s eyes widened. It was one thing to be more open with each other, but why would he blatantly ask such a thing in front of a kid?

“Excuse me?” she yelped, her eyes darting pointedly to Neal and back.

Gold glanced at his son who looked as confused as his father before nodding.

“Neal, why don’t you set the table for dinner.”

“Alright,” Neal said, looking relieved to have an excuse to leave the foyer.

“Yes I brought them,” Belle hissed as soon as Neal was out of earshot. “Why didn’t you warn me that Neal was going to be here? I’d have been a bit more discreet.”

If anything Gold just looked more confused at her outburst.

“I thought we could have a nice family dinner,” Gold said with a shrug. “Where else would my thirteen year old child be on a Thursday evening?”

Belle rolled her eyes. “Well I nearly flashed the poor kid!” she exclaimed. “After the whole magazine incident it would have really set us back in the “I’m cool with you dating my dad” department.”

Gold shook his head.

“Almost flashed him? What are you talking about?”

“The stockings,” Belle said with a huff. “Your text.”

“Yes,” Gold agreed with a nod. “The Christmas stockings.”

Belle’s mouth fell open.

“What?”

“The Christmas stockings,” Gold repeated. “I told you last week that Granny was monogramming new ones for the three of us. You said you’d pick them up from her.”

Belle let out a groan, slapping a hand against her forehead.

“Shit!” she exclaimed. “I completely forgot about that. I’m so sorry!”

“But you got my text.”

“Yes.”

“What did you think I was talking about?”

Belle glanced around making sure Neal was nowhere to be seen before reluctantly undoing the belt on her coat, parting the two halves and revealing her underwear to Gold. His eyes widened tracing down her body to her legs and back up, his mouth going slack. After a beat he shook his head, seizing the two halves of her coat and pulling them closed again.

“Those…weren’t the kind of stockings I had in mind,” Gold said.

“Yes, well I realize that _now_!” she hissed.

“You almost flashed that at Neal? The poor boy would have gone into cardiac arrest.”

“Please stop,” Belle said, closing her eyes in mortification.

“Not that I don’t appreciate it, sweetheart. Was that new?”

“Yes,” she said, stepping back from him and doing up the buttons on her coat once more, tying the sash tightly around her waist. “So now you see why I can’t take off my coat.”

“I made chicken satay,” he said.

Belle just shook her head miserably. “I should just go,” she said. “I can’t sit and have dinner with your son while I’m in my underwear. God, I’m a complete moron!”

“You’re not a moron,” Gold said with a chuckle, his hands skimming over her arms, big and warm through the fabric of her coat. “You’re beautiful and sexy and, if this was any other time I would be absolutely delighted by your lack of clothing. But I do agree you can’t wear that to dinner with Neal.”

Belle nodded with a sigh, turning to leave, but Gold gently grabbed her hand.

“I didn’t say to leave,” he said.

Now it was Belle’s turn for confusion. “I don’t have anything to wear.”

“Upstairs,” he said. “In the top drawer of my dresser, you’ll find an assortment of t-shirts and pajama pants. Help yourself to whatever you like.”

“And how will you explain to Neal why I’m wearing your pajamas?”

Gold shrugged, his eyes darting away with thought. “I’ll just say you spilled wine on your dress and it’s in the laundry.”

Belle nodded, breathing a little easier now that she wasn’t trapped in her coat for the foreseeable future.

“Okay,” she agreed.

Gold dropped an affectionate kiss to her nose. “You’re adorable, you know?”

Belle snorted. “Yes I’m sure I’m cute as hell almost exposing myself to a minor.”

Gold threw his head back in a laugh. “Well we both know it’s nothing he hasn’t seen before.”

Belle smacked Gold hard against the arm and his laughter just increased. “Not helping!” she exclaimed.

“Alright, I apologize,” he said, nodding toward the stairs. “Why don’t you go change while I finish up dinner.

Belle agreed, glad that crisis had been averted no matter that she knew Gold would be teasing her for months over this.

“Oh, and Belle,” he called after her, his voice low. She turned on the landing, looking back at him. “Perhaps later tonight, after Neal’s gone to bed, I can appreciate your outfit more thoroughly.”

He winked at her, giving one last longing look at her stocking clad legs before heading back toward the kitchen and Belle was left wondering when the tables turned and he was the one who could leave her blushing. 


End file.
